Multiple spool retainer



1966 F. c. STElNBOCK 3,279,591

MULTIPLE SPOOL RETAINER Filed July 22, 1964 I NVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,279,591 MULTIPLE SPOOL RETAINER Fred C.Steinbock, Chicago, Ill., assignor' to The Kendall Company, Boston,Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed July 22, 1964, Ser. N 0.384,382 10 Claims. (Cl. 20665) This invention is concerned with spoolretainers, particularly with disposable retainers which are suitable forretaining a vertical stack of spools in an integrated package but whichare readily disassembled to permit removing one or more of the spools.

Spools of ribbons, elastic, adhesive tape and the like are generallydiflicult to merchandise because unless they are displayed in boxes,they must be stacked to conserve shelf space. The stacks are rarelystable even when the spool sides are perfectly hat and as a result theretail merchant is confronted with a loose collection of spools.

It is an object of this invention to provide a spool stack retainerwhich will retain a stack of spools in such a way that no immediatecontainer will be necessary for transporting, displaying and selling thespooled product.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a spool stackretainer in which the carrying handle also is a lock which must beremoved before spools may be displaced from the stack but which is soeasily removed as to provide ready access to the spools.

Referring to the drawings:

I-n FIGURE 1, atypical stack of spools is shown integrated by a typicalstack retainer of the invention.

FIGURES 2 is a cross section of the stack of FIGURE 1 taken below aspool proper but cutting through the sleeve thereof.

FIGURE 3 is a side View of a typical stack retainer of the inventionshowing the locking arrangement.

FIGURES 4 and 5 are alternate locking portions for .the retainer ofFIGURE 3.

The stack retainers of this invention are very economical to manufactureand hence are disposable. The preferred material for the retainers iscorrugated board. Double-faced corrugated in the range of 125 to 275pounds per square inch bursting strength by the Mullen test in A, B, Cand E flutes is preferred. Crushed B flute corrugated is particularlyappropriate. Paperboard is also suitable in proper thickness of about20-36 points (.020- .036 inch). A-ll grades of paperboard such aslusterboard, clay-coated news, patentcoated, bleached manila andchipboard are suitable. The stack retainers may also be made of sheetmetal or sheet plastic. Sheet polyethylene and polypropylene areparticularly appropriate in thickness from 3 to or more mils. Other moreexpensive t-hermoplastics in sheet form may also be used. With somethermoplastics it may be necessary to soften the material by heat orsolvents to properly bend it. Thermosetting resins which generally havea plastic stage before orosslinking or thermosetting occurs may be usedby folding the retainer to final form when the resin is in the plasticstage and then converting the resin to the thermoset form.

Referring once more to the drawings:

In FIGURE 1, the assembled spool stack 10 consists of a number of spools11. The spools are preferably fiat on both sides but interfittingspools, .as illustrated, also form very compact spool stacks. The deviceof this invention will contain the spools in stacked condition, however,regardless of whether the spools have flat, interfit-ting or irregularsides. The spools should have individual cores such as 12 but they mayor may not have end iflanges such as 31 and 32 or sleeves 25 as in theem- "ice bodiment illustrated in FIGURE 1. The metal sleeve 25illustrated has an inwardly rolled stop edge 26 at one end and anoutwardly rolled mouth edge 33 at the other end. The flanged spoolslides in at the month end of the sleeve and is stopped by contact ofthe leading flange with the stop edge of the sleeve. As has beenindicated, however, the retainer of this invention will retain rolls ofany material rolled on a hollow core and its operation is not dependentupon protective devices such as flanges and sleeves.

The retainer of the invention consists of a support portion 13 and acombination handle and lock portion 14 which portions frictionallyinterfit to retain hollowcored rolls threaded on the support portion.The support portion consists of an upright triangular sectioned columnformed of panels 21, 22 and 23 and a horizontal base 19. These panelsand the base may be molded integrally from plastic in which case thebase could extend on all sides and be connected directly to each of thepanels. In such a molded support panels 22 and 23 would have a commonedge and panel 24 would be unnecessary. But if the retainer is made ofsheet material as is illustrated in the drawings, the column and'basemay be made from a single sheet thereof by folding or bending. Inpractice, the base 19 is formed to fit into the recess at the stackbottom of the embodiment as is shown in [FIGURE 1. vB'llt there is nosuch recess, the bottom spool will rest directly on the base and thelatter may be made in a variety of shapes and sizes. With sheetmaterial, the base is formed depending and integral with one of thecolumn panels preferably but not necessarily with panel 21. The supportcolumn is formed by bending or folding the sheet material as indicatedto form a prism-shaped upright support with a substantially triangularcross section. Although not essential, it is preferred that the crosssection of the support column be substantially circumscribed by the rollcores. The base 19 is folded or bent along a line 20 transverse to thepane-l to which it is attached so as to be perpendicular thereto andpreferably to underlie the support column. With some materials thetriangular sectioned support column will substantially retain its foldedor bent shape and this is helpful in assembling the stack. It is notessential that panels 23 and 24 be directly attached to form a permanentcolumn, however. Even when the support column is made of materialswhich, after bending, relax to increase the angle between adjacentpanels, the shape will be retained in those cases where the column issubstantially circumscribed by the roll cores. Because of the ease ofhandling and assembly which accompanies a stable support column,however, I prefer, Where necessary, to retain the bent or folded shapeby attaching the overlapped panels 23 and 24 together. They may befastened mechanically as by stapling or riveting; or they may be gluedor heat sealed Where appropriate or otherwise fastened. Optionally, thepanel 19 may also be fastened to the support so that it no longer hingeson the fold 20.

The combination handle and lock portion 14 of the retainer is shown inthe FIGURE 3 embodiment to consist of a locking blade 15 and an integralhandle and lock 16 hinged together at fold 17. The end of the blade 17is preferably tapered as at 18 to facilitate insertion of the lockingblade into the triangle of the support column as shown in FIGURE 2. Theblade wedges itself to such a degree that the stack may be lifted andcarriedby the handle 16 without pulling out the blade. Because thehandle is wider than the roll cores, it tends to lock the rolls in placeas long as the blade is wedged into place.

In practice either or both the support column 13 or the locking blade 15should be somewhat resilient. Thus if the column 13 is of rigid plastic,then the locking blade fold 39 to the handle 38. Wedging wings 30provide additional friction surfaces.

In using the retainer of the invention it is placed, support columnupright, on its base. Spools are then placed on the support with thesupport column threading the spool cores. When the stack is complete,the blade of the combination handle and lock portion is inserted intothe support column triangle and pushed home locking,

the spools in a compact stack. Where spools are recessed as in FIGURE 1,the handle of the locking portion may be fitted into the spool recess.Otherwise the handle may be bent over or left upright. Likewise the baseof the stacking column may fit into the spool recess or may simply bebent over to provide a rest for the stack.

The stack may be dissembled by pulling the handle upward with sufficientforce to overcome the friction of the locking blade against the insideof the support column whereupon the blade is withdrawn thus permitting,removal of one or more spools. The blade may then be reinserted toprovide a stop for the remaining spools.

I claim:

1. A spool dispenser and retainer for vertically displaying hollow-coredspools with their vertical sides unobscured comprising a supportingportion and a locking portion, said supporting portion comprising a basehaving a width greater than the inside diameter of the core'of spool-sto be retained and attached thereto and rising there-' from a hollowsupport column of triangular cross section capable of beingcircumscribed by a circle not greater in diameter than the insidediameter of the core of spool-s to be retained, said locking portionincluding a blade and a handle therefor, said handle having a widthgreater than the inside diameter of the core of spools to be retained,said blade, when inserted Swordlike into said hollow column,frictionallyengaging the same with such force as not to be disengaged by the weightof any spools retained when said retainer is suspended by said handlebut being readily disengaged solely by the application of moderatewithdrawing force wherebyone or more spools threaded and retained onsaid'column may be removed therefrom, whereupon said blade may bere-engaged with said column for retaining the remaining spools.

2. The retainer of claim 1 wherein the portions; are made of sheetmaterial.

3. Theretainer of claim 1 wherein the portions are made of corrugatedboard.

4. The retainer of claim 1 wherein the portions are made of paperboard.

5. The retainer ofclaim 1 wherein the portions are made of sheetplastic.

6. The retainerof claim 1 wherein the blade of said locking portion istoothed.

7. The retainer of claim. 1 wherein the blade of said locking portionhas side Wings.

8. The retainer of claim 1 wherein the supporting portion is integral. I1

9. The retainer of claim 8 wherein the supporting portion is formed froma sheet folded to shape.

10. The retainer of claim 1 wherein the blade and handle for saidlocking portion are integral.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,613,654 1/1927Griffith s5 5 2,338,930 1/1944 Gordon 206 2,607,140 8/1952 Taylor 248-174 2,663,104 12/1953 Hoagland 40-1241 FOREIGN PATENTS 945,558 7/1956Germany.

THERON E; CONDON, Primary Examiner. W. T. DD(SON,- Assistant Examiner.

1. A SPOOL DISPENSER RETAINER FOR VERTICALLY DISPLAYING HOLLOW-COREDSPOOLS WITH THEIR VERTICAL SIDES UNOBSCURED COMPRISING A SUPPORTINGPORTION AND A LOCKING PORTION, SAID SUPPORTING PORTION COMPRISING A BASEHAVING A WIDTH GREATER THAN THE INSIDE DIAMETER OF THE CORE OF SPOOLS TOBE RETAINED AND ATTACHED THERETO AND RISING THEREFROM A HOLLOW SUPPORTCOLUMN OF TRIANGULAR CROSS SECTION CAPABLE OF BEING CIRCUMSCRIBED BY ACIRCLE NOT GREATER IN DIAMETER THAN THE INSIDE DIAMETER OF THE CORE OFSPOOLS TO BE RETAINED, SAID LOCKING PORTION INCLUDING A BLADE AND AHANDLE THEREFOR, SAID HANDLE HAVING A WIDTH GREATER THAN THE INSIDEDIAMETER OF THE CORE OF SPOOLS TO BE RETAINED, SAID BLADE, WHEN INSERTEDSWORDLIKE INTO SAID HOLLOW COLUMN, FRICTIONALLY ENGAGING THE SAME WITHSUCH FORCE AS NOT TO BE DISENGAGED BY THE WEIGHT OF ANY SPOOLS RETAINED